Nurse Investigated for 'Sedition' After Writing Letter to Editor

[FormerOstrich]

I don't even know what to say.......

NEW YORK Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson for a thorough inquiry of his agency's investigation into whether a V.A. nurse's letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration amounted to "sedition."

Merely opposing government policies and expressing a desire to change course "does not provide reason to believe that a person is involved in illegal subversive activity," he said. Bingaman said such investigations raise "a very real possibility of chilling legitimate political speech."

Laura Berg, a clinical nurse specialist for 15 years, wrote a letter in September to a weekly Albuquerque newspaper criticizing how the administration handled Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq Wwr. She urged people to "act forcefully" by bringing criminal charges against top administration officials, including the president, to remove them from power because they played games of "vicious deceit." She added: "This country needs to get out of Iraq now and return to our original vision and priorities of caring for land and people and resources rather than killing for oil....Otherwise, many more of us will be facing living hell in these times."

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001995631

[Warpy]

1. The ACLU is also involved in this

and a very large stink is being raised.

I'll be back there next week and I'll do my best to contribute to it.

If there had been any hint that she'd written that letter at work during working hours and on her work computer, they might have had a case for non work use of their equipment. But SEDITION? I thought that went out with bustles and hobble skirts about the time Prohibition came in.

This country is getting nuts.

[Double T]

3. I'm sorry, you are wrong!!!!!!

This country IS NUTS!!!!! Freedom of speech and expression is under attack. Time to donate again to the ACLU.

[C_U_L8R]

2. Sedition ???

Good god.. they ARE evil.
Only an evil regime would threaten a critic with imprisonment.
I do believe we have the right to overthrow these fckrs.

[ColonelTom]

4. Um, yes it is, Peter. Yes it is.

In a press release, Simonson also said: "Is this government so jealous of its power, so fearful of dissent, that it needs to threaten people who openly oppose its policies with charges of 'sedition'?"

[Punkingal]

5. This sort of thing will just get worse and worse....

As long as these lunatics are in power. We are screwed totally if we don't take back the House in November.

[lectrobyte]

6. At least the gov't is still somewhat in the public about it... How long

before they just declare you an enemy combatant and disappear you to some prision somewhere (or worse)?

[poverlay]

9. I don't think they're going to "declare" anything. Most likely

you'll just "disappear". Leaving your spouse to go down to the police station, everyday, hoping for some news...

[chat_noir]

7. related DU threads

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=383447

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=380641

[TechBear_Seattle]

8. Kicked and recommended

This is outrageous. Sedition, merely for criticizing The Junta?

[peacetalksforall]

10. If you haven't seen it go out for a movie - Good Night, Good Luck.

This country is mucked. Consider what we teach our children - your children may even be told today that this is the land of the free, every vote counts, we each have a Constitutiona and Bill of RIghts standing behind us.

This country is all about one thing first - grand hypocrisy.

And now the entire world is learning that we live a lie.

We start by lying to our infants, kids, young adults and they in turn lie when they have children or teach children.